Hi,
Considering a year of just Olympic distance races next year. I live in NYC. Wanting to try some that are not local and within 4 hour drive. Any big “bucket list” Olympic distance races to try? Big events, unique events, very scenic. Open to anything.
Escape the Cape, a little shorter than Oly, but you jump off the Cape May/Lewes ferry. Pricey and sells out.
Savageman has an Oly that has a challenging bike, although no Westernport wall. That’s probably further than 4 hours for you.
ETA: Kinetic Multisports has a couple of races on the Chesapeake bay at cute little town. North East tri and Waterman’s. I did Waterman’s last year and enjoyed it. Flat course. Northeast has a bike course with lots of short punchy climbs. Little towns are cute and you can get good crabs and other seafood.
+1 for Escape the Cape
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My recommendations would include:
Pat Griskus Triathlon in Middlebury, CT – same host venue as Ironman 70.3 CT. It’s a damn hard Olympic. Swim is long, run is a little short. But it’s fun. And there’s beer.
Cranberry Triathlon in Lakeville, MA – Mark Walter just puts on good races. Swim is a touch short, bike is a bit long, run is dead on. Really pretty bike course.
There are a couple unique Olys next to the White Mountains in NH. I haven’t tried any yet though
A little further than four hours out, but Pumpkinman in southern Maine has a weekend festival (sprint Saturday, oly and half Sunday) in early September. Voted most scenic course. It’s a great time to visit, and the full Thanksgiving meal after the oly and half is stellar.
Another for Escape the cape. Delmo sports does an amazing job, love that race and that area. Not exact Oly distance, but that is as close to a less-than-70.3 bucket list race as you’ll get in the Northeast IMO.
Lake George triathlon has Oly option. I did the half a few years ago, great race great scenery and venue. Easy drive from NYC.
SOS Cape Cod if you can get in. Not exactly Olympic distance - bike 27, run 4, swim 0.5, run 2.5, swim 0.25, run 1.5, swim 0.5, run 1, in that order. Beautiful and challenging course.
Boston Triathlon. Extremely well-organized race and the only tri that takes place in the city. Closed bike course and great race for spectators.
NJ State Triathlon is big (Mercer County outside of Princeton). Not exactly scenic, but a well run event.
Escape the Cape is a great race, Cape May is a fun little town and DelMo is awesome but the race is on Sunday so you’ll hit a lot of beach traffic headed back to the city.
Mighty Montauk first weekend of June is probably my favorite. Bit smaller, really family-oriented and good mix of laid back and competitive. It’s also on Saturday so you’re done by ~10AM and have the rest of the weekend to enjoy.
DelMo’s Atlantic City olympic in August is also pretty fun. Also a Saturday race I believe, and as much as people knock AC, it’s been re-built up quite a bit and was honestly surprisingly very fun.